As one of the most popular leagues in the world, MLS always stands out with excellent players, the best clubs, and the most exciting games. In this blog, people will get to know the brief history of MLS, highlights in the 2024 MLS, and some of the brilliant players.
Introduction of Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer represents the highest level of soccer in America, delivering thousands of thrilling and remarkable events and players worldwide. It was founded in 1993, but before that, there was another league called the North American Soccer League existing from 1968 until 1984. To acquire the right to host the 1994 World Cup, U.S. Soccer decided to set up a professional soccer league and that’s how Major League Soccer came. The headquarters of MLS is located in Manhattan and there are a total of 29 teams, 26 of them in America and 9 of them in Canada. Usually, the MLS regular season is held from late February or early March to mid-October. Every team plays 34 games and the team with the best performance can get the Supporters’ Shield. After the MLS regular season, there are 18 teams still needing to join the postseason in late October or November.
The Major League Soccer in 2024
The 2024 MLS is the 29th season in history which has 29 teams, being divided into the Western and the Eastern conferences, participating in competitions and it is the only time that no expansion teams are joining. The Preseason began on January 19 and ended on February 17 while the regular season was held on February 21 and is going to end on October 19. The All-Stars games, which everyone is expecting, will start at 8:00 pm on July 24.
Highlights in 2024 MLS
From the beginning of the 2024 MLS, there have been many surprising, striking, and thrilling games and players occurring in front of us. Let’s look at what exciting moments and highlights have occurred together.
Hat-tricks
A hat-trick refers to a player scoring three or more goals in a single game. Achieving a hat-trick is challenging and requires exceptional shooting skills, attacking awareness, and individual skills. Therefore, when a player scores a hat trick, it often leads to a burst of cheers from the audience. So, who has scored hat-tricks in the 2024 MLS season and captured the fans’ attention? Let’s take a look.[image 1]Christian Benteke scored 2 hat-tricks respectively on February 24 and May 11. He plays for U.C. United and have scored 16 goals this season, currently ranking No.2 in the league. Another excellent player Tại Baribo scored his first hat-trick in a game that the Philadelphia Union met with the New England Revolution. This made him the first Israeli player to score a hat-trick and encouraged his teams to have defeated the New England Revolution with a score of 5-1. In addition, Luis Suárez, one of the greatest strikers in the world, also scored a hat-trick, showing what he is capable of in his football career. Other excellent players, such as Giorgos Giakoumakis, Cristian Arango, Sam Surridge, and Federico Bernardeschi also performed well in the league and scored the hat-tricks which made audiences cheer up and pride for them.
Goals
[image 2]According to the latest data from the official website, Cristian Arango leads the scoring chart with 17 goals, closely followed by Christian Benteke and Los Angeles FC with 16 goals—just one goal behind. Daniel Gazdag ranked after the three with 14 goals. Lionel Messi, a globally renowned player, is in ninth place, tied with five other players, each having scored 12 goals.
Clean Sheets
Clean sheets mean that the opponent’s rating is zero, and your team is completely overpowering the other team. Kristijan Kahlina and Hugo Lloris each kept a clean sheet in a 9-0 victory, while Stefan Frei and Patrick Schulte each recorded clean sheets in 7-0 wins. Besides that, 4 players kept a clean sheet in a 6-0 victory and 8 players kept it in 5-0.
Awards
This round of matches showcased some exceptional individual performances.Messi made headlines with his standout contributions by being named Player of the Day twice and Player of the Month in April with 4 matches played, 6 goals, 4 assists. Additionally, it is also worth noting that Benteke, Suárez, Giakoumakis, Suárez, and Morgan also were named Player of the Day because of their exceptional efforts. Luis Suárez, Luciano Acosta, and Mateusz Bogusz were named Player of the Month respectively in March, May, and June due to their superior devotion to the clubs.
Latest News
The youngest player—Cavan Sullivan
[image 3]Cavan Sullivan was born on 28 September 2009 and is only 14 years old. He made his first debut on March 24 and signed his first contract with the Philadelphia Union on May 9, becoming the fifth-youngest player in Major League Soccer history to sign a first-team contract. He took the place of the hat-trick hero Tai Baribo in Philly’s match vs. the New England Revolution, making history as the youngest player in the history of the league, as well as the youngest player in the top North American professional sports leagues and the “big five” European soccer leagues, UEFA Champions League and Europa League, which dated back to 1988.
New Roster Rules
Roster rules have been changed and there are three new rules to note:
- All six DP & U22 roster spots
- Roster construction flexibility
- Opportunity for more allocation of money from transfers
The new roster allows more players signed by clubs and more flexibility in investing. It will go into effect as of the 2024 Secondary Transfer Window by MLS and the Sporting and Competition Committee.
Listing of All-Stars
The list of All-Stars has just been announced lately and 30 players will participate in the 2024 MLS All-Star Game. The players were selected in three ways: voted by a joint result of fans, media, and players, selected by MLS All-Star head coach and MLS Commissioner Don Garber. There are lots of familiar names on the list: Cristian Arango, who had led the league in goals (17) and goal contributions (28); Lionel Messi, one of the fastest players with 25 goal contributions in a season; Luis Suárez, a legendary striker. All believe they will bring tough but fierce and exciting games to everyone.
Conclusion
The MLS 2024 is still a work in progress. Since the beginning of the year it has given us so many surprises, we have seen many hat-tricks, the latest young players as well as seasoned veterans. Thanks to them for giving us a great first half of the year and there will be more surprises to come in the upcoming matches.
